classes: pretty paper. true stories. {and scrapbooking classes with cupcakes.}

Learn Something New :: Finished Scrapbooks

finished minibook in vintage book cover

Learn Something New just finished and I’ve taken a little mini-break from the internet…trying to stay offline for a few more hours a day over this past weekend and enjoy the last few days before we have to finally commit to turning on the heating for the temperature freefall into winter. And also to bask a tiny little bit in that lovely feeling that comes when you finish a project and you just want to flip through it a dozen times and show it to everyone and say look! I made this! I really, really did! And why yes, that is a tiny three-ring binder tied into the shell of an old book with woodgrain-printed ribbon, why thank you for noticing! I love it when the project works in the end and everything just fits into place.

Other finished Learn Something New books are surfacing in blogland, so I hope you’ll pay them a visit.

finished minibook by Gez
Read more about GezzyB’s album here.

finished scrapbook by ScrapDolly
Read more about ScrapDolly’s album here.

finished scrapbook by Rachel
Read more about Rachel’s album here.

finished scrapbook by Alissa
Read more about Alissa’s album here.

finished minibook by Becky
See Becky’s album here.

I absolutely love seeing how everyone starts with the same idea and yet every project is unique to the crafter that made it and tells the story of their September. Simple things perhaps but something that makes me very happy indeed.

xlovesx

Class starts tomorrow :: Win a place today!

online scrapbooking class

Learn Something New Every Day starts tomorrow, and it’s not too late to join us!

Click here to see all the class details and sign up!

But it wouldn’t be fun to start without a giveaway, right?

Comment on this post and you will be entered to win a place for you and FOUR friends.

That way, you’ll already know someone in class and not have any awkward moments trying to find somewhere to sit for lunch! Plus if you followed a link to this post, you can repay the favour by inviting that kind person too!

If the winner or any of her four friends are already on the class list – whether from this year or any year in the past – the full class price will be refunded. So go ahead and enter, even if you’re already waiting for class to begin!

Comment to enter to win. Please be sure to include a valid email address. Comments close at 5am Tuesday 1st September, UK time.

xlovesx

Learn Something New Every Day

online scrapbook class

September is a special kind of second new year: the time of year when we head back to school, set new goals, live up to our shiny new intentions and embrace the idea of doing a little something to make ourselves a little better somehow.

Around here, we do that with an online class called Learn Something New Every Day.

Now it its fourth year, this online class encourages you to observe the world around you and learn from your daily experiences and surroundings. We work with a small format album to make thirty daily entries, and we adopt a few short cuts and techniques to make those daily entries possible in even the busiest of weeks. And once you’ve joined, you’re welcome to participate for as many years as you like at no extra cost.

The class includes:
...preparation notes delivered next week
...thirty daily full-colour pdf prompts delivered to your inbox
...access to a private class forum at shimelle.com to chat and share your work
...permanent file archive so you can come back to the materials at any time

PLUS New for 2009:
Although the principles of the course stay the same each year, the prompts are revamped to show you a new book with a new look. This year’s additional materials include:
...for paper scrappers, this year’s featured album is made with repurposed supplies that will encourage you to stretch your supplies by recycling some items from daily life, and the option of a kit for scrapbookers in the UK.
...for hybrid scrappers, four pages of printable accents to include in your album (available to download on the first day of class).
...for digital scrappers, five page templates (layered .psd files) and a mini kit of papers and embellishments designed just for the class, plus the option of additional digital supplies available when class begins.

So you’ll get all that too, whether it’s your first year to sign up or you’re joining us again in 2009.

Ready to sign up? You can choose your currency and pay in UK pounds or US dollars by clicking the cupcake of your choice:

You can pay by credit/debit card (click on the left of the payment screen) or Paypal account (log in on the right of the payment screen). Please be sure to enter a valid email address as part of your payment so your prompts can be delivered to your inbox.

Participated last year? You don’t need to do anything. You’ll receive a message in the next day or so with all the relevant links for you. If your email address has changed in the past year, however, you will need to update it on your forum account to ensure you receive your emails.

Any questions? Leave them in the comments or shoot me an email and I’ll get an answer to you straight away.

I can’t wait to meet the Class of 2009!

xlovesx

Go To Press: class starts today!

hybrid scrapbook page

My new online scrapbooking class, Go To Press, starts today and prompt one has already been sent to your inbox if you had signed up before this morning! It’s not too late to join though, so if the party made you think your printer could be helping you a bit more in your projects, then join us!

Of course the first day normally has a few hiccups that come with sending large attachments by email. If you are signed up but didn’t receive your prompt this morning, check your spam or junk mail folder to make sure we didn’t get misplaced, and if it’s not there either, send me an email so I can get you all sorted. Please include your Two Peas username in your message so I can find you on the class list. Thanks!

And don’t forget, all the party challenges are open for your entries until the end of tonight (UK time), so you still have time to create or comment for a chance to win!

We have a beautiful blue sky here this morning: hopefully it will be a fabulous week for everyone!

xlovesx

Go To Press...a little something from our guest designers!

hybrid scrapbook page ideas

One of the things I love most about online classes is working with guest artists and seeing how they interpret an idea in their own style. There are ten guest artists taking part in Go To Press and a few of them have some sneak peeks for you today.

Check out Caroline, Amy and Cindy for just a tiny look at what the class has in store.

If you’ve already signed up for the class, you can already say hello on the private message board, by the way! You’ll find it in your list of boards at Two Peas once you are logged in.

xlovesx

More about: Go To Press...and a giveaway!

scrapbook page

Another tiny little sneak at Go To Press, the online class I’ll be starting on the 3rd of August. I can’t seem to go through an entire project without a tiny bit of cupcake influence, but I promise cupcake devotion is not a requirement of the class.

The biggest question that seems to have come up is what kind of printer you need. Because we’re going to be using our printers a great deal—but the good news is you don’t need anything superduper fancy.

Do you need a 12×12 printer? Not at all. I don’t have one! All of the printables are designed to be printed at 8.5×11 or A4 sized and can be resized even smaller if you prefer. If you are lucky enough to own a 12×12 printer, then you can enlarge them a bit too and print anywhere you want on the cardstock. That can give you some flexibility, but I managed to make my album without that and I promise I didn’t have any headaches at all! So a standard sized printer will be fine.

Do you need a laser printer? Not at all. I printed everything for the class on my ink-jet photo printer. If you do want to use a laser printer, keep in mind that you may be slightly limited for what you can send through it (you’ll be fine with paper and transparencies, I should think, but you may have trouble with fabric, for example).

Do I really have to send lots of stuff through my printer? There’s nothing you have to do. You’ll see lots of examples of non-plain-paper items that have been printed on—but you’ll also see plenty of layouts using the same printables on traditional white cardstock. So you’ll have plenty of options to go with what you like and what supplies you have to hand.

Those were the big three that I found in my inbox over the last few days—if you have any other questions, let me know and I’ll happily answer them!

As for a little more non-printer detail, here’s a quick summary:
...20 full colour PDF prompts delivered to your inbox Monday to Friday.
...20 pages of colour printable accents
...permanent back up and access to the prompts and files
...40+ example projects, including layouts by Kelly Purkey, Tia Bennett, Kelli Crowe, Stacey Sattler, Shannon Tidwell, Caroline Ikeji, Amy Grendell, Cindy Liebel, Jennifer Gallacher and me.
...step-by-step instructions for new techniques
...twenty page themes and journaling prompts to make up a completed album
...private message board to chat and share your work
...plus door prizes along the way!

All that, and you can sign up right here.

To kick things off, everyone who comments on this post gets their name in the hat to have me pay for your place in the class. Just leave a comment to enter—entries close at 10pm UK time on Monday 27th July and the winner will be posted on Tuesday the 28th! (If the winner has already purchased a spot on the class, she can have her choice of a refund or a place for a friend.)

And if you’re so inclined, please pass the word about this class to your scrapping friends and blog readers. Here are a few images you might find useful!

(that is 300×300 pixels, but there is also this one which is 150×150 which works for sidebars.)


(or this one for you non-blinking blinkie collectors!)

But all you have to do right now is comment for a chance to win, so say something in the box!

Have a fabulous weekend!

xlovesx

PS: What’s on your schedule next weekend? There might be something going on. Just maybe! Stay tuned.

ETA: Comments closed. Winner will be announced Tuesday 28th July. Thank you for entering!!

Introducing...Stress Free Scrapbooking

If you’ve taken a class from me, you know my biggest mantra:
There is no stress in scrapbooking!

Seriously, we all started doing this for fun. Because it was something that was creative, pretty, enjoyable. And yet from time to time we get stressed out by a range of things that come along with this happy hobby. Stresses like…

I’m falling behind because I’ve taken so many pictures and I don’t have time to scrapbook them!

I love all the latest and greatest supplies, but I can’t justify them since I haven’t used all my other stuff!

I feel like everyone I know who scrapbooks is super talented and makes it all easy!

I’ve been working on this page for hours (or days!) and I just don’t like it.

I bought this new product because it seemed fabulous, but really I don’t have a clue what to do with it. What a waste.

I want my pages to mean something, but by the time I’ve finished, they don’t seem emotional or special enough.

Any of those sound familiar?

So I’m starting a new series of online classes that put the stress and the guilt and all the negativity completely out of the picture. These classes are all about learning, creating and always, always having fun. Hence, Stress-Free Scrapbooking.

Okay, maybe I can’t come clean your desk, but the other stuff we can work on together.

The first class is called Go To Press and you can sign up now. Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing a bit more about this class. But let’s put this into perspective: do you have a printer? How much did you pay for it? And what exactly do you do with it?

Most of us are taking our printers—one of the biggest investments a scrapbooker makes—for granted. We print photos. Sometimes journaling. Maybe we go all out and get creative with something title-ish. But most of us are neglecting the tool that could bring the most in custom embellishment our way—making our printer our very own personal printing press. To give you plenty of stuff to run through your printer, this class includes twenty pages of custom printables that include accents, embellishments, journaling spaces, titles, quotations and all sorts of little surprises along the way.

So over a four week class, we’ll be putting our printers through their paces, and creating a finished album while we’re at it. And that is something I’ll be sharing with you later this week!

I hope you’ll join me for class—you can sign up here! Class starts Monday 3rd August.

Can’t wait!

xlovesx

Here, There & Everywhere :: Class Winner!

scrapbook page

And the winner is…

Shaquanna Says:
13 February 2009, 01:51
This class looks like it is going to be great! I would love to win a spot to take this class!

So Shaquanna, email me with the name, email address and TwoPeas login name for you and a friend, and I’ll get you all set to go!

Thanks to everyone who entered! You can still sign up here and join in the fun. Class starts tomorrow, so go-go-go!

xlovesx

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